Method to commission a distributed system

A system for facilitating the commissioning of a distributed system, comprising:

• memory for storing a base configuration which defines an expected virtual topology for a distributed system;
• and
• at least one processor for identifying, by a control device, a physical network topology of the distributed system to commission the distributed system, the at least one processor configured to:
• identify a physical network topology of the distributed system by:
• performing network discovery to identify a plurality of connected devices that are communicatively coupled to the control device in the distributed system and to collect device information for each of the plurality of connected devices relating to its identity and relative position in the distributed system, the distributed system including a plurality of subnetworks of connected devices from the plurality of connected devices, at least one of the plurality of subnetworks having a ring network topology or the plurality of subnetworks being connected in a ring network topology, and
• comparing the collected device information for the plurality of connected devices to the expected virtual topology from the base configuration to determine an identity and physical location of the plurality of connected devices and associated subnetworks in the physical network topology of the distributed system, and
• commission the distributed system according to the identified physical network topology.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer code, which when executed by at least one processor, implements a method of facilitating the commissioning of a distributed system comprising:

• obtaining a base configuration which defines an expected virtual topology for a distributed system;
• and
• identifying a physical network topology of the distributed system, the identifying comprising:
• performing network discovery to identify a plurality of connected devices that are communicatively coupled to the control device in the distributed system and to collect device information for each of the plurality of connected devices relating to its identity and relative position in the distributed system, the distributed system including a plurality of subnetworks of connected devices from the plurality of connected devices, at least one of the plurality of subnetworks having a ring network topology or the plurality of subnetworks being connected in a ring network topology, and
• comparing the collected device information for the plurality of connected devices to the expected virtual topology from the base configuration to determine an identity and physical location of the plurality of connected devices and associated subnetworks in the physical network topology of the distributed system;
• and
• commissioning the distributed system according to the identified physical network topology.